EVERYONE, it was once said, has a book in them.

It's advice that luminaries in the football world, never noted for their literary ability, are taking on board more than ever before.

And aren't the authors making good use of their hitherto untapped writing talents?

If you think Roy Keane's book - including descriptions of his drinking and the infamous Alfie Haaland feud - is lively stuff, try reading Tony Cascarino's offering.

Admitting that he was not eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland - having won 88 caps for his adopted nation - was guaranteed to draw attention.

So, too, was the graphic description of the regular beatings he received from his father.

Not for Cascarino the easy route; the gentle anecdotes from Italia 90, or a comfortable journey through a fairly nondescript club career.

It was an example that Jaap Stam was to follow, albeit with sudden and dramatic implications.

Claiming that Sir Alex Ferguson had spoken to him while he was still under contract to PSV Eindhoven amounted to an accusation that the Manchester United manager had "tapped up" the defender.

It was a fatal mistake, at least as far as Stam's United career was concerned.

Within days of his book being serialised in a national newspaper, the shell-shocked Dutchman was being paraded by Lazio, still trying to think through his brutal axing by Ferguson.

No one wants to read a plodding account of a player's plodding career, and the more salacious stories that are included in books, the better. If Ferguson was hurt by Stam's comments, he might have been well advised to move out of his own glasshouse.

His book, written by the doyenne of sports journalists, Hugh McIlvanney, laid bare his private battles with friends and foes alike.

But at least he was able to reflect in the warm afterglow of United's Treble in 1999; to speak from a position of power.

David O'Leary, on the other hand, might as well have kept the pen he used to write his ill-timed, badly-titled book to sign his Elland Road death warrant.

Calling the tome "Leeds United on Trial" was incredibly insensitive, published as it was less than a month after the end of the prolonged court case involving Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer.

Failing to tell Peter Ridsdale, his chairman and erstwhile close friend, that he was writing a book was another major faux pas.

In golf, Mark James was stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy for personal attacks on Nick Faldo and Tom Lehman in particular.

But all those would-be Jeffrey Archers must all kneel at the altar of Glenn Hoddle - the man whose words rather than deeds triggered his self-destruction.

His World Cup diary, written in collaboration with the FA's David Davies, was the ultimate betrayal of players.

It robbed him of his players' confidence, and marked the beginning of the end of his time as England coach.Keane, of course, could have gone one step further by provoking a police investigation into his comments.

But one thing appears certain: with newspapers prepared to pay big bucks for juicy exposes, the days of the dreary sports autobiography are numbered